The Runic Artist Chapter 8: Chapter 326 - Trials of the Risen

Read chapter 8 of The Runic Artist by Ellake on NovelPedia.

Chapter 326 - Trials of the Risen A note from Ellake ✨ Consumer of the Fourth Anchor ✨ by Miko Melina A little monster with a big heart and an even bigger appetite. Sentience came quite suddenly to Suri the slime, leaving him with an insatiable hunger and a vague memory of pretty lights and lots of magic. He finds forest of his home is crawling with shambling, humanoid monsters possessed of an appetite for magic that would put even his own to shame, a fact that he’s sure is completely unrelated to his arrival. With his first evolution—Guardian Slime—Suri is given his purpose, and when he finds the local human village under siege from the shamblers, his path is clear. Protect people, eat stuff; what more could a slime ask for? Threats lurk around every corner. Pestilent magic spreads the shamblers’ curse far and wide. Harpies and other monsters fight for their very survival, and a dungeon sprawls beneath the land, poised to swallow unsuspecting slimes into its darkened depths. With danger on every side, can a tiny slime make a difference and save the people he cares for? Expectations: - Monster evolution - Dungeon crawl leads to dungeon control - Healing slime - Found family - LitRPG skill grinding with cultivation rank-ups 📖 Read Now Nate stood slowly as the pressure of Kali’Terra’s presence washed over the room. Fili remained on the floor, either in shock or simply unable to rise in the presence of the far more powerful being. “I take it our agreement needs to be revisited now that I am without a Class Core?” asked Nate. “YOU ARE CORRECT. WITHOUT THAT CONNECTION, YOU ARE NO LONGER BOUND TO FINISH THE TASKS I HAD HOPED YOU WOULD COMPLETE. A NEW AGREEMENT MUST BE FORGED.” “How would that work? Previously, your Embodiment would force me to fulfil my part. Now, that enforcement is gone.” Nate had a pretty good idea what the answer was going to be but he wanted to make sure the understanding between Kali’Terra and himself was abundantly clear. Without Reciprocity to enforce it, he could violate the agreement, which should leave him open to a direct reprisal from The System. After all, Kali’Terra’s Embodiment of Reciprocity meant it would always seek balance. “VIOLATION WOULD ALLOW FOR REDRESS OR, IF I HAD NOT YET FULFILLED MY END OF THE AGREEMENT, THE DEBT BETWEEN US WOULD BE REDUCED TO EQUAL WHAT YOU HAD ACCOMPLISHED.” “And how do we determine a balanced agreement now…since you probably shouldn’t still be in my head…” “THE PROTECTION YOU HAVE CREATED TO DEAL WITH THE DECEASED INDIVIDUAL KNOWN AS PERENTHIA ALSO PREVENTS ME FROM UNDERSTANDING YOUR DESIRES. OUR AGREEMENT WILL BE BASED ON WHAT WE BOTH WANT AND ARE WILLING TO GIVE.” “And what do you want?” asked Nate. “THE SAME AS BEFORE. FOR THE ITEMS DESIRED BY ARIKANVIL TO BE KEPT BEYOND HIS REACH. TWO REMAIN. WILL YOU ACQUIRE THEM AND REMOVE THEM FROM THE BOARD?” Nate noted how Kali’Terra didn’t push for Nate to destroy the items. Only to keep them from Arikanvil permanently. So, the question was, what did he want? He wanted Kiri free of her Class Core. Frick and Wulfgar too, but that could wait until the pair of them had achieved a Vessel and raised it appropriately so they weren’t easily targeted by stronger powers. So, did he let his debt accumulate so he could free more people, or ask for things he needed? There was something now that he thought about it. “Do you have a separate agreement with Kiri for these things or are you pooling our debt together?” “TOGETHER. THE TASK IS THE SAME. YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE ALIGNED. THE DEBT IS POOLED.” “I need a Nascent artifact for Enduring then. Once we acquire the second item the debt will be balanced when Kiri has her Class Core removed and you provide a Nascent artifact for Enduring.” That should make sure his sister was able to pass through the bottleneck as well. “AGREED. I WILL RETURN ONCE YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SECOND ITEM AND WE CAN DISCUSS OUR TRANSACTION FOR THE THIRD.” The presence didn’t fade in like it had arrived. Instead, it